Straat in Vlissingen, met de toren van de Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk 1859 - 1870

This stereograph of a street in Vlissingen, featuring the tower of the Grote or Sint-Jacobskerk, was made by Pieter Oosterhuis using a photographic process. The photographic print, with its sepia tones and remarkable detail, reveals the material qualities of the urban environment. We can see the texture of the brickwork, the play of light on the windows, and the subtle gradations of tone in the sky. Photography, from its beginning, was deeply entwined with both artistic and industrial practice, requiring the labour of photographers, the manufacture of equipment, and the distribution of images. Stereographs like this one were popular in the 19th century as a form of mass media. They were produced in vast numbers, catering to a growing market for visual representations of the world, and capturing the social and cultural life of the time. Looking closely at the photographic print encourages us to appreciate the interplay between technique, representation, and social context, allowing us to see this artwork not just as a picture of a street, but as a complex object with cultural significance.